Print media information systems and methods

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a novel interactive information system which can be used to make a traditional print medium such as a magazine, “interactive”. When the traditional print medium is placed on a print media receiving unit in a predetermined position, a user can interact with the traditional print medium. Printed matter elements on the printed medium can be made “selectable” by the user.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/632,534, filed Aug. 4, 2000, which claims thebenefit of the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/200,715 filedApr. 27, 2000, all of which are herein incorporated by reference intheir entirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention relate to systems and methods forinteracting with or augmenting print media.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

“Hard copy” print media such as paperback books have a number ofadvantages over electronic publications. Some electronic books, forexample, can be read using a device such as a personal digital assistant(PDA). However, the screens of PDAs are very small and it can bedifficult to read the text of books on the PDAs. Moreover, it isdifficult to manipulate the pages of an electronic book as a user mustscroll through a number of pages to get to a page of interest. It isoften faster for the user to turn a page of an ordinary book to quicklyget to the desired page. Because the pages of an ordinary book can beturned quickly, the user can understand the context of a story orarticle that occupies many pages of the book much more quickly thanwould otherwise be the case when turning the pages of an electronicbook. Furthermore, although improvements have been made to electronicdisplay screens in recent years, printed matter on paper is often easierfor people to read than electronic print on an electronic displayscreen. For instance, glare on an electronic display screen can make anelectronic book difficult to read. Paper, on the other hand, typicallydoes not produce excessive glare. Lastly, although sales of electronicpublications are increasing, sales of traditional print media remainvery high indicating a continuing consumer preference for hard copyprint media. One reason for this may be that traditional print media aretypically easier to use than electronic print media.

Although hard copy printed media have many advantages over electronicpublications, hard copy printed media have a number of limitations. Forexample, the information which can be present in a hard copy printedmedium such as a magazine is limited to the number of pages within it.If the reader wants additional information about a particular subjectbeing read, the reader must take the time search for the information.For example, if a reader wants more information about a product in astory or an advertisement that he or she sees in a magazine, the readermust take affirmative steps to locate the additional information. Thereader can contact the seller of the product by mail, phone or theInternet to obtain additional information about the particular productadvertised. The additional effort undertaken by the reader is veryinconvenient to the reader. Moreover, the retrieval of the additionalinformation is delayed by the time needed to determine how to obtain theinformation as well as the time needed to actually obtain theinformation.

To address this problem, some have suggested printing specializedmachine readable codes such as barcodes or digital watermarks containingembedded information of a uniform resource locator (URL) on the pages ofa print medium such as a magazine. The barcodes or watermarks can thenbe scanned using a scanner and a computer can obtain auxiliaryinformation from the Internet using the URL.

Printing many specialized machine readable codes such as multiplebarcodes or digital watermarks on a print medium such as a magazine,however, has a number of disadvantages. For example, having manybarcodes or watermarks in a print medium makes the printing process forthe particular print medium more difficult and more expensive. Theincreased cost will likely deter many publishers from printing many themachine readable codes in their publications. Moreover, the visualappearance of a print medium is significantly compromised when the printmedium includes multiple barcodes. Pages of a magazine, for instance,appear cluttered to a reader and thus less visually pleasing when manybarcodes are present. Furthermore, if the barcodes or watermarks areblurred in some manner in the printing process, the scanner may not beable to scan the barcode and obtain the auxiliary information.

Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention can provide auxiliary information to auser, conveniently and efficiently. The auxiliary information isprovided to the user without significant effort on the part of the user.Moreover, in embodiments of the invention, a “hard copy” print medium isused. The benefits of a traditional hard copy print medium are retainedwhile gaining the ability to efficiently retrieve auxiliary informationrelated to the print medium and perform actions related to the printmedium.

One embodiment of the invention is directed to a print media informationsystem. The system comprises: (a) a print media receiving unit including(i) a surface suitable for receiving a print medium, and (ii) anelectronic position determining system capable of determining a positionof a selected portion of the print medium when the print medium isdisposed on the surface; and (b) an information server computer adaptedto perform a task after receiving the information relating to theposition of the selected portion of the print medium.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method ofinteracting with a print medium. The method comprises: (a) receivinginformation relating to a position of a selected portion of a printmedium on a surface of a print media receiving unit comprising anelectronic position determining system; and (b) performing a task afterreceiving the information relating to the position of the selectedportion of the print medium.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a print mediareceiving unit. The unit comprises: a surface capable of receiving aprint medium; an electronic detection system capable of detecting asection of a portion of the print medium by a user when the print mediumis disposed on the surface; a writeable memory device adapted to receiveauxiliary information from an information server computer; and an outputdevice adapted to communicate the auxiliary information to a person.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a print mediainformation system. The system comprises a print media receiving unitincluding (i) a surface suitable for receiving a print medium, and (ii)an electronic detection system capable of detecting a selection of aportion of the print medium by a user when the print medium is disposedon the surface; (b) an information server computer; and (c) a printmedia database on or accessible to the information server computer.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method ofaugmenting a print medium. The method comprises: (a) electronicallyencoding information relating to portions of a print medium; and (b)sending the information relating to the portions of the print medium toa user via a communication medium, wherein the sent information is to beused in a print media receiving unit comprising an electronic detectionsystem capable of detecting a selected portion of the print medium whenthe print medium is disposed on the surface.

These and other embodiments are discussed in further detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIGS. 2 to 4 show flowcharts illustrating embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 5( a) to 5(e) show schematic diagrams of system embodiments.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a system embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a print media receiving unit.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a print medium on a print medium receiving unitembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a three-dimensional view of a print medium on a print mediumreceiving unit embodiment.

DEFINITIONS

As used herein:

“auxiliary information” includes any type of information which can beused to supplement a selected portion of a print medium. Auxiliaryinformation may be static or dynamic, and can be embodied in anauxiliary application or a content package of information.

An “auxiliary application” includes a computer application which relatesto a portion of a print medium or is provided in response to a selectionof a portion of a print medium. Auxiliary applications may run on aprint media receiving unit, a client computer, or any other component.

A “communication medium” includes any suitable communication network.Examples of communication media may include the Internet, subsets of theInternet such as the World Wide Web, intranets, PCS (personalcommunication systems), cellular telephone networks, PSTNs(public-switched telephone networks) and non-proprietary and proprietarycomputer networks.

A “stylus” includes a device which is capable of selecting a letter,symbol, graphical patterns, elements of graphical patterns, or otherprint element.

An “information source” includes sources of information such as sourcesof auxiliary information, auxiliary applications, and content packages.

A “content package” includes a package of information sent to a user. Insome embodiments, information and applications in a content package canbe tailored to a user profile or a particular print medium.

A “user package” includes a package of information sent by a user.

A “print element” can include, alone or in combination, a photo, word,phrase, graphic pattern, symbol, paragraph, etc. in or on a printmedium.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention can be used to make a traditional printmedium such as a magazine, “interactive”. When the traditional printmedium is placed on a print media receiving unit in a predeterminedposition, a user can interact with the print medium by selecting printelements on the print medium. For example, a user can use a stylus toselect (for example, by touching) a symbol for a stock on the printmedium while it is disposed on the print media receiving unit. Auxiliaryinformation such as the latest price for the stock can be presented tothe user in audio or visual form in response to the selection. Theauxiliary information may come from a server computer and may beprovided to the print media receiving unit before or after the usermakes a selection. Advantageously, portions of the print medium can“selected”, even though the print medium is free of electroniccircuitry.

The auxiliary information may be created by the publisher of the printmedium. The publisher may associate any type or amount of auxiliaryinformation with any desired print elements in the print medium.Auxiliary information may be static or dynamic and generally supplementsan associated print element. Some or all print elements in a printmedium may be designated selectable by the publisher.

When it is placed on the print medium receiving unit, the print mediumcan be geometrically “registered”. That is, the print medium may bepositioned on the print media receiving unit in a specified position andorientation. The accuracy of the placement of the print medium on theprint medium receiving unit may vary depending on the number or size ofselectable print elements on the page, or the distance between adjacentprint elements. If there are many selectable print elements on a page ofa print medium, then the registration accuracy needed is typicallygreater than if there are fewer selectable print elements per page. Forexample, if there is only one selectable print element per page in amagazine disposed on the print media receiving unit, then theregistration of the magazine need not be substantially accurate. Afterentering the page number that the user is viewing into the print mediareceiving unit, the user could use a stylus to touch virtually anyportion of the page to select the print element on that page. In theseembodiments, the point at which the stylus touches the page need not beclose to the selectable print element on the page. On the other hand, ifthere are many selectable print elements on the page, then more accurateregistration is typically needed to ensure that the selectable printelements are properly registered with corresponding positions on thesurface of the print media receiving unit. If, for instance, fivepictures on a page are selectable, the five pictures can be registeredto five selectable positions on the print media receiving unit. By doingso, the appropriate supplemental information is presented to the userupon the selection of one of the five pictures.

After it is on the print media receiving unit, the user may select aportion of the print medium. If appropriate, the page number that theuser is viewing may be entered into the print media receiving unit. Aselecting device such as a stylus or finger can be used to touch orpoint to printed matter such as text, pictures, or symbols in the printmedium. An electronic detection system in the receiving unit may thendetermine that the user has made a section. In preferred embodiments, anelectronic position determining system in the print media receiving unitcan determine the position of the selected portion of the print medium.

In some embodiments, a print medium identifier or a user identifier, andinformation relating to the position of the selected portion is thensent to an information server computer. This information may be sent toa client computer which is external to the print media receiving unit,before being sent to the information server computer. In otherembodiments, the client computer may be present in the print mediareceiving unit so that the print media receiving unit can be connecteddirectly to a communication medium such as the Internet. In theseembodiments, an intervening computer unit at the user's location is notneeded to communicate with the information server computer. Regardlessof which configuration is used, the print media receiving unit and theclient computer are preferably located at a first location where theuser is present, while the information server computer is at a secondlocation (e.g., at a remote location) away from the user.

The information relating to the position of the selected portion may bethe information in the selected portion, or may be the position of theselected portion in the print medium (e.g., the page that a selectedprint element is on and its relative or absolute position on that page).For example, information relating to the position of the selectedportion may be the particular phrase, picture, etc. selected by theuser. To determine the particular phrase, picture, etc. selected by theuser, the print media receiving unit may contain an electronic map ofthe print medium disposed on the print medium receiving unit. Theelectronic map can be stored in a writeable memory in the print mediareceiving unit and can correlate print elements in the print medium withtheir location on the print medium. For example, the electronic map maycorrelate a particular print element to the page that it is on and itsparticular location on the page. The electronic position determiningsystem can determine the position of a portion selected by a user, and aprocessor can determine the actual phrase, picture, etc. selected by theuser using the position information and the electronic map. Accordingly,in some embodiments, the print media receiving unit can determine boththe position of the selected portion as well as the actual phrase,picture, etc. selected by the user. Alternatively or additionally, theinformation relating to the position of the selected portion may be therelative or absolute position of the selected portion of the printmedium.

In some embodiments, the information server computer may perform a taskafter receiving the information relating to the selected portionposition. Any suitable task may be performed by the information servercomputer. For example, the information server computer may retrieveauxiliary information relating to the particular portion of the printmedium selected by the user. The retrieved auxiliary information maythen be transmitted to the user by using the information servercomputer. The transmitted auxiliary information may be received by aclient computer at the user's location. The client computer may beinternal to or external to the print media receiving unit, and maypresent the auxiliary information to the user in an audio or visualformat.

When a user interacts with a print medium on a print media receivingunit, a one or two-way communication channel can be created between auser (e.g., a reader of a publication) and entities having auxiliaryinformation, auxiliary applications, interactive services, and controlservices relating to the print medium with which the user isinteracting. The auxiliary information, auxiliary applications,interactive services and the control services can be accessed throughthe information server computer. The information server computer may beoperated by a publisher of the print medium or a service providercontracted by the publisher.

In other embodiments, the server computer need not perform a task afterthe user selects a print element. For example, in some embodiments, theprint media receiving unit can receive an electronic map and auxiliaryinformation for a particular print medium from a server computer. Theelectronic map and the auxiliary information may be downloaded to aclient computer at the user's site and then loaded into a writeablememory in the print media receiving unit. After the auxiliaryinformation and the electronic map are received by the print mediareceiving unit, the user can interact with the print medium when it isplaced on the print media receiving unit without further contact withthe server computer. At a later date, the user may load differentauxiliary information and electronic maps for different print media intothe print media receiving unit. Consequently, in some embodiments, theuser need not be in direct communication with the server computer wheninteracting with the print media receiving unit.

In an illustrative embodiment, a user may review a publication such as amagazine on a print media receiving unit and may want to know more abouta particular subject in the magazine. The user may request back issuescontaining information relating to the particular subject by selectingthe appropriate portion of the magazine. The information server computeris contacted and the information server computer may retrieve the backissues (or pertinent portions thereof) and may electronically transmitelectronic copies of the back issues to the user's e-mail account orpersonal information manager (PIM). Alternatively or additionally, thepublisher may send the back issues in hard copy form to the user througha non-electronic form of communication such as the U.S. mail.

As noted above, an electronic detection system can be used to determinethat the user has made a selection. The electronic detection system ispreferably an electronic position determining system which can be usedto determine the position of portions of a print medium selected by auser. (Examples of suitable position determining systems are providedbelow.) A number of advantages are provided by using electronicdetection system such as this. For example, by using a print mediareceiving unit and a position determining system, auxiliary informationfor any desired portion and for any desired print element in the printmedium can be obtained. Since the location of a selected print elementcan be used to determine what the print element is (rather than acharacteristic of the print element), the system can determine what theselected print element is regardless of the particular features of theprint element. The ability to interact with the print medium is notdependent upon the characteristics of the print element. For example,the print elements in a print medium need not have a particular shape,configuration, or code to render the print medium interactive. Also, thepresence of many print elements such as bar codes in a print mediumdecreases the aesthetic appeal of the print medium. Furthermore,eliminating the requirement of having specialized print elements savespublishers of print media a significant amount of time and expense asspecial printing processes are not needed to make a publicationinteractive. For example, special printing processes to print manybarcodes or other machine readable symbols in a print medium are notneeded in preferred embodiments of the invention.

Different types of print media may be used in embodiments of theinvention. Suitable printed media may include “hard copy” printed mediaincluding publications, graphical patterns, game boards, photo albums,etc. Examples of publications include magazines, books, resumes, flyers,workbooks, manuals, newspapers, television guides, theater guides (orother performance guides), test forms, annual reports, direct mailitems, music sheets, music or entertainment reviews, children's books,game or puzzle sheets, monthly statements, publications, etc.

The pages of the print media may comprise any suitable substratematerial including paper or plastic. Print elements such as letters,figures, drawings, icons, symbols, pictures, etc. may be printed on thesubstrate material using any suitable ink, dye, or other print material.The print in the printed medium is preferably permanently affixed to thesubstrate material as is ink on paper. If the print medium is a book,the book may have a spine which permits the pages to lie flat when thebook is open. An example of such a spine is one made from a spiral wire.

The print medium may even be a transparency sheet with printed matter.In some embodiments, a print medium such as a transparency may bedisposed on a print media receiving unit. An image of the printed matteron the transparency on the print medium receiving unit can be projectedonto a screen away from the print medium receiving unit usingconventional methods. The user may interact with the projected image onthe screen by selecting particular portions of the print medium on theprint media receiving unit. If desired, the pages of the print mediumcan be turned automatically while on the print media receiving unitusing mechanisms well known in the art. The images of the turned pagescan be displayed on the projection screen, and the user can interactwith print elements on the pages.

The print medium may have any suitable size. A suitable print medium mayhave planar dimensions of up to 20 inches by 12 inches, or larger (whenopen or closed). In other embodiments, the print medium may be about 10inches by 12 inches, 8.5 inches by 11 inches, or 5 inches by 7 inches.Of course, the print medium may be smaller or larger than these sizes.The print medium may also include any suitable number of pages. Forexample, a print medium may have more or less than 100 pages. The printmedium are preferably less than about two inches in thickness, but maybe thicker.

Some or all of the print elements in a print medium may be renderedselectable. For example, more of less than one, two, or three printelements per page may be rendered selectable. If some print elements arerendered selectable and some are not, the selectable print elements mayhave a different appearance to the user than the non-selectable printelements. For example, highlighted, colored differently, bolded, orchanged text (e.g., italics) might be rendered selectable while printelements on the page may not be rendered selectable. Also, certainportions of the print medium may be rendered selectable to generate oneresponse, while other portions of the print medium may be rendered togenerate a response of a different type. For example, after selectinghighlighted or bolded text in a print medium such as a magazine, aresponse providing additional information about the highlighted orbolded text may be presented to the user. Other portions of the printmedium, such as the border of the pages of a magazine, might be selectedby the user and the system may respond to the selection in differentmanner or mode. For example, if the user selects these other portions,the print media receiving unit may respond by playing music or byproviding instructions to the user (e.g., informing the user to selectanother portion).

FIG. 1 shows a system according to an embodiment of the invention. Inthis embodiment, client computers 71, 72 may be operatively coupled toan information server computer 80 through a communication medium 70 suchas the Internet. The information server computer 80 may access anauxiliary information database 83 or a Web site 84 which has access toanother auxiliary information database 85. The Web site 84 may be run onanother information server computer (not shown). Auxiliary informationfrom the auxiliary information database 85 can be sent to the clientcomputer 71, 72 via the communication medium 70. This can be donedirectly or indirectly through the information server computer 80. Theinformation server computer 80 may also have access to a print mediadatabase 82 containing electronically processed print media 82. Any ofthe databases of information can be present on a high-capacityinformation storage medium. Examples of information storage mediainclude optical, magnetic, or electrical cartridges, disks, or compactdisks.

Electronic content for the print medium may reside in a database 82accessible to the information server computer 80. The electronic contentfor the print medium may include, among other things: (a) identifierinformation for the print medium; (b) electronic maps for the printmedium; and (c) auxiliary information which may be embodied or presentas static information, auxiliary applications, and/or content packagesrelating to predetermined print elements in the print medium.

The information server computer 81 may also include a host Web site 81.In preferred embodiments, the client computers 71, 72 may contact theinformation server computer 80 by contacting the host Web site 81.Contact can be made by entering the appropriate URL for the Web site 81into the client computers 71, 72. Each of the client computers 71, 72can be coupled to a print media receiving unit 73, 74. In otherembodiments, the client computers 71, 72 may be included withinrespective print media receiving units 73, 74 so that the print mediareceiving units can be coupled to a computer network, without anintervening local computer unit. Various output devices (e.g., displaydevices, audio devices) and input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse,stylus) (not shown) can be operatively coupled to the client computers71, 72 or the print media receiving units 73, 74 for the user to provideand receive information from the system.

The information server computer used in the system is typically apowerful computer or cluster of computers. For example, the informationserver computer can be a large mainframe, a minicomputer cluster, or agroup of servers functioning as a unit. For instance, the informationserver computer may be a database server coupled to a Web server.Moreover, the information server computer can behave as a singlecomputer which services the requests of one or more client computers.The information server computer can retrieve specific information froman information storage medium on or accessible to the information servercomputer. Client computers can communicate with the information servercomputer through the Internet and optionally through one or more ISPs(Internet service providers). The client computers in the systemtypically have less memory and less computing power than the informationserver computer.

An illustrative method embodiment can be described with reference toFIGS. 1 and 2. A user can place a print medium on a print mediareceiving unit 73 (step 91). The user may manually or automaticallyenter an identifier for the print medium, and a user identifier or aprint media receiving unit identifier, into the print media receivingunit 73 or a client computer 72 coupled to the print media receivingunit 73. For example, a machine readable symbol may encode an identifierfor the print medium. The machine readable symbol can be scanned intothe system so that the identifier for the particular print medium isentered.

The location of the information server computer 80 may also be enteredinto the system so that the identifiers can be sent to an informationserver computer 80. For example, the print media receiving unit 73, theclient computer 72, or the print medium may contain or receive a URL forthe particular information server computer 80 to be contacted. The URLcan be used by the print media receiving unit 73 or the client computer72 to establish communication with the information server computer 80.The client computer 72 can then transmit the identifiers to theinformation server computer 80 via the communication medium 70.Preferably, the client computer 72 contacts the information servercomputer 80 by first contacting a host Web site 81 residing on theinformation server computer 80. After receiving the identifiers, theinformation server computer 80 can send an acknowledgement to the clientcomputer 72 or the print media receiving unit 73 that the identifiershave been received (step 97).

Some or all of the electronic content for the print medium may be sentto the user after the identifier information is received by theinformation server computer 80. For example, electronic content in theform of a content package for the print medium may be downloaded to theuser's client computer 72 or the print media receiving unit 73. Thedownloaded information may then be transferred to a writeable memorydevice (not shown) operatively associated with the print media receivingunit 73.

In some embodiments, the downloaded information includes an electronicmap correlating the print elements in the print medium to their locationin the print medium, and auxiliary information for the print elements.In some of these embodiments, further information need not be downloadedfrom the information server computer for the user to interact with theprint medium. The auxiliary information associated with the printelements in the print medium may be stored in a writeable memory deviceassociated with the print media receiving unit. The print mediareceiving unit can then present auxiliary information stored in thewriteable memory to the user after the user selects a print element inthe print medium. This can be done without further substantialcommunication with the information server computer 80. In theseembodiments, the user can interact with the print media receiving unit73 without being in direct communication with the server computer 80.

In other embodiments, only a portion of the electronic content for theprint medium need be downloaded to the user for the user to interactwith the print medium. For instance, the auxiliary information relatingto print elements in the print medium and the electronic map correlatingthe print elements to their location need not be downloaded to the user.The auxiliary information and/or electronic map may be at a locationaway from the user's site (e.g., in a print media database 82).Illustratively, the user can select the name of a company on a page in aprint medium. An electronic position determining system associated withthe print media receiving unit 73 determines the position of theselected company name. The positional information is transmitted fromthe print media receiving unit 73 to the client computer 72, which inturn can transmit it to the information server computer 80. Using apreviously received print medium identifier, an electronic map for theprint medium, and the received position information, the informationserver computer 80 determines that the company name from a database hasbeen selected by the user. The information server computer may thenretrieve auxiliary information relating to the company name, and theauxiliary information can be sent to the user.

Again with reference to FIG. 2, the user may use a stylus or otherselecting device to select portions of the print medium (step 94). Whenselecting a print element, the user can use the stylus to contact ornearly contact a print element such as a word, phrase, picture, etc. onthe print medium. After a selection is made, information relating to theposition of the selected portion of the print medium is then sent fromthe print media receiving unit 73 to the information server computer 80(step 95). For example, as noted above, information of the location ofthe selected portion may be sent to the information server computer 80or the information of the actual selected print element may be sent tothe information server computer 80.

The information server computer 80 may then perform a task afterreceiving information relating to the position of the selected portionof the print medium. For example, the information server computer 80 mayretrieve auxiliary information for the user (step 98). The informationserver computer 80 can retrieve the information by contacting anauxiliary information database 83 or another Web site 84 having accessto another auxiliary information database 85. The retrieved informationis then sent to the print media receiving unit 73 and is provided to theuser (steps 96, 99). The retrieved auxiliary information may be providedto the user in an audio or visual format.

The auxiliary information retrieved for the user may comprise anysuitable information. Suitable information includes backgroundinformation, factual information, supplemental information, or otherinformation related to the print element selected by the user. Forexample, a user may obtain more information about an advertised itempictured in a publication or may want to order the advertised item. Byselecting a print element such as an image of the advertised item in thepublication, the user can cause the information server computer to sendauxiliary information such as the price or availability of the item tothe user.

The auxiliary information for a print medium may correspond to theidentifier for print medium and may be stored according to theidentifier. As noted above, the print medium identifier may be presentor encoded at a standard location on the print medium. In someembodiments, the print medium identifier may be, for example, the titleand date of publication of a print medium. In other embodiments, theidentifier may be an alpha-numeric identifier which has been assigned tothe print medium and can be encoded in a machine readable symbol. Insome embodiments, the identifier may contain or have associated with it,the location (e.g., a URL) where the electronically encoded printinformation for the print medium can be received. For example, when aprint medium identifier is entered (manually or automatically) into thesystem, the print media receiving unit or a client computer coupled tothe print media receiving unit establishes contact with the informationserver computer which, in turn, contacts the database where theelectronic content for the print medium resides. The information servercomputer can retrieve auxiliary information for the print medium, andthen send it to the user.

The auxiliary information may be in any suitable form. The auxiliaryinformation may be music or voice data that is capable of beingconverted to music or speech at the user's site. For example, in someembodiments, a speaker associated with the print media receiving unitcan transfer music, voice or data into sound. The auxiliary informationmay also comprise text or other graphic material that can be displayedon a display device at the user's site. In some embodiments, theauxiliary information consists primarily of, or solely of, audioinformation.

The auxiliary information may even be provided by a computer applicationwhich is downloaded to the user's computer or print media receiving unitin response to the selected print element. The computer application mayrun on these or other components to provide the user with auxiliaryinformation relating to the selected print element. In one example, thecomputer application may instruct the information server computer toquery another Web server for additional information about the selectedprint element. In another example, the computer application may providea multimedia presentation to the user, when it is run at the user'ssite.

In some embodiments, auxiliary applications may be downloaded to theprint media receiving unit when certain symbols, e.g., on the printmedia or on the surface of the printed media receiving unit, areselected. For example, touching the stylus to a musical note symbol in ashort boxed story on tempered musical scales, might cause an applicationprogram to be downloaded. The application program may be run on theprint media receiving unit. When run, the program causes a device toillustrate the concept of different tonal tempering, and may ask theuser to distinguish between half tones and whole tones.

A number of specific examples of auxiliary information can be provided.For example, in the case of a magazine or direct mail catalog, theauxiliary information may include weather or temperature information atparticular travel destinations, stock quotes, inventory availability, ordaily sales. For a news journal, the auxiliary information may includehistorical background to a published story, or related information, suchas music or recorded speeches. In a magazine, an advertiser may providesupplemental information on the product for sale, and may also promptthe user for additional information. Using the system, the advertisermay offer the user an opportunity to purchase goods or may send ane-mail with additional information to the user. In yet another example,the publisher of a print medium capable of being used to play a game(e.g., a crossword puzzle) may provide auxiliary information about thegame to be played (e.g., hints, facts about an identified word, etc.).

The auxiliary information sent to the user may also be embodied by acontent package which can be sent by the information server computer.Content packages may be specifically tailored towards the user'sinterests or the particular nature of the print medium. Each contentpackage may have associated with it, a computer application adapted toprovide auxiliary information to the user and/or static information. Forexample, after a typical content package is sent to the print mediareceiving unit, the unit may ask the user to provide responses to anumber of queries. Examples of requested information may include theuser's opinion regarding a certain subject, answers to a quiz, etc.Information sent by a user may be called a “user package”. For example,the user may send a user package of information to a publisherrequesting that several books to be sent to the user's home and that theitems be charged to the user's credit card.

Auxiliary information may also be information sent from another personat a different location, which may have been prompted, received, ortransmitted by an information server computer. For example, the printmedium may comprise one or more printed sheets with printed mattercorresponding to a game which can be played by two players at twodifferent locations. The players may operate print media receiving unitsand can interact with the game-containing print media at theirrespective locations. Information such as player moves can betransmitted between the players using an information server computer.Accordingly, multi-player games can be strategy games played in non-realor in real-time time across a network, for example, chess or Scrabble™type games where each player's move is logged and then transmittedacross a communication medium to the other player.

In another example, the print medium may contain a story on the stockmarket in which the user may obtain actual stock quotes if the stylus isdirected (e.g., touched, pointed) to the stock symbols shown in thearticle. When the user selects a particular stock symbol on a page of amagazine on the print media receiving unit, information such as acurrent stock price for the selected company's stock can be sent to theuser in an audio or visual format. Embodiments of the invention may thusobtain, real-time auxiliary information about certain print items whichare time dependent in nature.

In an example, the user might use a stylus to select a picture of an adfor cars in a magazine. In response, the print media receiving unit mayaudibly recite downloaded information regarding the car in the selectedad. The user may, in response, select another region of the ad or aregion of the print media receiving unit to request that additionalinformation about the car be delivered to his e-mail account or regularmail box.

In another example, a publisher may want an article on books to have aninteractive, i.e. “dynamic” audio content. The publisher may want toprovide a downloadable application that allows the user to hear excerptsof the books in the article when one or more symbols are selected on thearticle.

Embodiments of the invention also provide the user with a variety ofcontrol services. For example, by selecting a print element on a printmedium on a printed media receiving unit, the user could request thatadditional information be sent to his e-mail account. In anotherexample, a user could also order products using the system. Forinstance, upon touching the stylus to an advertisement for a florist ina print medium, the user might request that a flower arrangement besent. If the print medium is a catalog, the user could request thatspecific items featured in the catalog be delivered to his home byselecting appropriate print element in the catalog.

In some embodiments, the information server computer may be operated bya publisher, or a service provider contracted by the publisher. Thepublisher may prepare the publication for use in the print mediainformation system by going through a series of processing steps. Thisprocessing may be performed at the information server computer site, forexample, by a host entity. Alternatively, the processing can beperformed at a site away from the information server computer. Apublisher can process a print medium at his site and upload theprocessed print media data to a database for storage and retrieval byusers. The processing consists of entering auxiliary information,auxiliary applications, or services associated with predetermined printelements (e.g., symbols) in the print medium in an information storagemedium accessible to or on the information server computer. The printmedium can be assigned a code that relates the print medium to thepublisher content or information that the publisher wishes to use tosupplement the print medium.

FIG. 3 illustrates a typical process for processing a print medium.First, a publisher contacts a processing center 131. The publisherobtains an identification code from the processing center that willrepresent that a particular print medium 132. The publisher may thenobtain the appropriate software to convert the print medium into anelectronic format 133. In the preparation process, attachments such asstatic audio, dynamic audio with links, and applets can be associatedwith selectable print elements in the print medium. The publisher maythen upload this electronic content for the print medium to theinformation server computer. The information server computer may storethe electronic content for the print medium in a print media databaseat, e.g., a publisher's site. Then, it can be downloaded by varioususers 134. In other embodiments, the print media database can beoperated by a host entity which provides a print media processingservice and/or electronic content storage service for many differentpublication entities.

Preferably, the users register with a host entity before using thesystem. With reference to FIG. 4, after obtaining a print mediareceiving unit, the user establishes an account by registering with ahost processing center 121. To establish the account, the user canprovide the processing center with an identifier that is unique to theprint media receiving unit the user is using. The print media receivingunit identifier is preferably associated with the print media receivingunit before it is distributed to the user. In other embodiments, a printmedia receiving unit identifier need not be used to set up an account.For example, the user can simply provide a user name and password to setup an account. Preferably, the user then provides the identifier, hisname, address, phone number, optionally an e-mail address, optionally alist of interests, optionally credit card information, and otheroptional personal information to the host processing center. After thepersonal information is sent to the host processing center, it can bestored in a personal profile which is accessible to the informationserver computer. Whenever the user activates the print media receivingunit, the user can be identified to the information server computer and,if desired, any information retrieved according to the user's personalprofile can be sent to the user.

The user then takes a print medium which has been previously processedby a publisher, and places it on a print media receiving unit which hasbeen turned on 122. The print medium may have come to the user via asubscription or by purchase in a retail outlet. The print mediareceiving unit may instruct the user to place the print mediumaccurately on the print media receiving unit so it is geometricallyregistered properly. It may also prompt the user to enter the identifierof the publication 123. Alternatively, the identifier may be read by theprint media receiving unit and entered automatically when thepublication is placed on the print media receiving unit. Analpha-numeric entry device associated with the print medium receivingunit can be used by the user to enter an identifier code for the printmedium manually into the system. Entry of the identifier may take placeusing the user's fingers or the stylus.

A print media receiving unit identifier or user identifier can be usedto identify the user to the system. In either case, the identifier couldbe a code number or other symbol (e.g., an alpha-numeric symbol). Usingthe identifier, information can be retrieved for the user according tothe user's personal profile and then sent to the user. Identifiers forboth the print medium, the print medium receiving unit or the user canbe sent to the information server computer. After receiving theidentifier, the information server computer can send, e.g., apersonalized greeting to the user using the corresponding print mediareceiving unit.

Using a print medium identifier in conjunction with a print mediareceiving unit identifier and/or a user identifier, a user's experiencecan be personalized. For example, after receiving a print mediareceiving unit identifier and a print medium identifier, the informationserver computer may download a suggested reading list based on the printmedium on the print media receiving unit. The suggested reading list maybe selected according to preferences in the user's personal profilewhich may be accessible to the information server computer. In anotherexample, the user may have previously indicated an interest in wines inhis personal profile. After receiving a magazine and placing themagazine on the print media receiving unit, a content package preparedaccording to the user's interests may be downloaded into the print mediareceiving unit. After receiving the downloaded content package, the usercan be informed by the print media receiving unit that an article onwines is on a specific page in the magazine.

A number of different systems can be used to implement theabove-described embodiments. FIGS. 5( a)-5(e) illustrate examples ofsuch systems. In FIG. 5( a), the print media receiving unit 2 has atransceiver 28. The transceiver 28 links to a second transceiver 30which in turn is coupled to a local external client computer 32. Bylocal, it is meant that the client computer 32 and the transceiver 30coupled thereto are close enough to the transceiver 28 in the printmedia receiving unit 2 so that information can be conveyed between thetransceivers 28, 30 using normal short range RF signals. Typically thismeans that the print media receiving unit 2 and the transceiver 30coupled to the client computer 32 are in the same home, office, officesite, etc. The local external client computer 32 is typically a personalcomputer of any type with access to the Internet. The local externalclient computer 32 may be a laptop, local network server computer orother type of computer proximate the user's site. The local externalclient computer 32 is preferably connected to a communication mediumsuch as the World Wide Web 34. In particular, the local externalcomputer client 32 is connected to a Web site serviced by an informationserver computer 10. (The term “connected to the Web” is used in thecommon sense of the phrase and does not imply a direct electronicconnection.) The connection may be through any of the commonly availableconnection services. For example, a modem can be used to call anInternet service provider (ISP) which in turn connects to a Web sitethrough use of a browser. The information server computer 10 has accessto a plurality of information sources 36 which contain auxiliaryinformation, interactive services, and related applications associatedwith print medium. Information server computer 10 may also access Websites having access to other information sources. The Web sites may beaccessed through search engines, hyperlinks, etc. There is no practicallimit to the number of information sources that the information servercomputer 10 can access.

FIG. 5( b) is similar to FIG. 5( a), except that in FIG. 5( b), atransceiver 30 is coupled to a phone jack 40. The phone jack 40 in turnis coupled to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 38. The PSTNmay be coupled to the Web 34 so that the information server computer 10and the information sources 36 can be accessed.

FIGS. 5( c) and 5(d) are similar to FIGS. 5( a) and 5(b), except that atransceiver 30 is coupled to a game station 42 or an informationappliance 44 such as palm-sized computer, wireless phone (e.g., cellularphone), personal digital assistant (PDA), etc. In some embodiments, theinformation appliance 44 may be thin client. In these embodiments, thegame station 42 and the information appliance 44 may serve as clientcomputers. Both the game station 42 and the information appliance 44 maybe coupled to the Web 34 and the information server computer 10 andinformation sources 36 can be accessed.

The embodiments shown in FIGS. 5( a)-5(d) preferably use short range RFtransceivers. However, RF transceiver links can be replaced by eitherinfrared (IR) links or hardwired links. In certain situations it may bemore convenient to use a hardwire coupling between the print mediareceiving unit assembly and the particular device to which it iscoupled.

FIG. 5( e) illustrates, in the last row, a print media receiving unit 2coupled to a wireless phone 46 or a PCS (personal communication system)node 48 via a transceiver 28 in the print media receiving unit 2. Longrange RF signals can be used to link the node 48 and the phone 46 withthe print media receiving unit 2. Although the wireless phone 46 and thenode 48 are shown as being separate from the print media receiving unit2, they may also be incorporated into the print media receiving unit 2.Regardless of the particular configuration used, the cell phone 46 andPCS node 48 may be operatively coupled to a network such as a PSTN 37which is in turn coupled to the Web 34. The information server computer10 and various information sources 36 can be accessed. In any of theembodiments, the print media receiving unit 2 may alternatively use amodem to allow it to access a communication medium such as the Web.

Print Media Receiving Units and Assemblies

The print media receiving unit may have any suitable shape or size.Preferably, it is in the form of a platform. Accordingly, a specificexample of a print media receiving unit may be referred to as a“platform element”. Platform-shaped print media receiving units have asubstantially planar orientation and also have a substantially planarsurface for receiving a print medium. The print media receiving unit mayalso be about the size of a laptop computer, palm sized, desk top sized,or drawing board sized. In some embodiments, the print media receivingunit may be in the form of a portfolio such as a leather or leather-likeportfolio. The portfolio can be portable and can be carried by personsand can impart a professional appearance to the print media receivingunit.

In some embodiments, the print media receiving unit has a surface whichis cooperatively structured to receive a print medium. The surface mayform a depression defined by edges which are just larger than the planararea of an open book or magazine fitting within the depression. If theprint medium is in the form of a book, the surface of the print mediareceiving unit may further have an additional depression conforming tothe shape of the spine of the book. When the book is open, the spinelies in the depression and the pages of the book lie flat against thesurface of the print media receiving unit. In other embodiments, thesurface of the print media receiving unit need not be cooperativelystructured to receive a print medium. For instance, a holder can be usedto hold a print medium on the surface of the print medium receiving unitin a fixed position.

The print media receiving unit may be hinged at the center so that itcan fold into a unit half, or a fraction of, its opened size. In use,the print media receiving unit is preferably opened and a print mediumis placed on the open inner faces of the print media receiving unit. Theprint media receiving unit may also have one or more mechanical featuresthat allow the print medium to be exactly positioned or registered onthe print media receiving unit. The print media receiving unit may bestructured so that when it is closed, it can enclose a print medium suchas a book or a magazine therein. In these embodiments, the print mediareceiving unit can be configured so that a print medium placed on theprint media receiving unit can remain in place when the print mediareceiving unit is folded.

The print media receiving unit may be formed using any suitablematerial. The print media receiving unit may be formed of plastic,cardboard, or other stiff material. The print media receiving unit mayinclude a conventional leather or vinyl backing that is stiff enough tobe used as a platform.

The print media receiving unit also includes an electronic detectionsystem such as an electronic position determining system embeddedtherein. Using the position of the portion of the print medium selectedby the user and an electronic copy of the print medium, the particularprinted matter selected by the user can be determined by the system. Forexample, as noted above, the print media receiving unit may contain anelectronic map and auxiliary information for the print medium disposedon the print medium receiving unit. An electronic position determiningsystem can determine the position of a portion selected by a user, and aprocessor can determine the actual phrase, picture, etc. selected by theuser using the position information and the electronic copy of the printmedium. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the printed media receivingunit can determine both the position of the selected portion as well asthe actual phrase, picture, etc. selected by the user. Alternatively oradditionally, the information relating to the position of the selectedportion on a page may be positional information such as the x-ycoordinates of the selected portion on the page.

Information pertaining to the particular page which the user is viewingmay also be entered into the print media receiving unit by the user sothat the unit knows which page the user is viewing. For example, theuser may use a stylus to select numbers on an alpha-numeric keyboarddisposed on the print media receiving unit. In another embodiment, thestylus or other device can be used to scan the page number of the printmedium. In yet another embodiment, a strip of numbers (0 to 9) may bepresent on the print media receiving unit and the user may select thepage number using a stylus by selecting the corresponding combination ofnumbers. In yet another embodiment, an indicator such as a “go” circlemay be present on the borders of the pages of the print medium. When theindicator is selected by the user, the position of the indicator can bedetermined by the electronic position determining system and thatposition may correspond to a particular page in the print medium.

Preferred electronic position determining systems include graphicallocation and position determining systems using an interactive stylusand an antennae system. For example, in an illustrative embodiment, amagazine may be placed on the print media receiving unit and the usermay use a stylus or other device to select an advertiser's name in themagazine. Upon selection of the advertiser's name using the stylus, thegraphical location and position determining system can determine thatthe user has selected the advertiser's name. The stylus and an antennaesystem embedded within the print media receiving unit may interact anddetermine the particular location of the printed matter selected by theuser. The location of the printed medium and the print media receivingunit can be fixed relative to each other so that the particular locationof printed matter on the printed medium corresponds to a similarlocation of the print media receiving unit. The degree of care taken toachieve overlap of an image, or selectable position, on the printmaterial relative to the detector system in the print media receivingunit will depend on the resolution needed. For example, one region of asurface of a print media receiving unit may have many selectablepositions very close together, while another region of the print mediareceiving unit surface may have few selectable positions. Higherresolution is needed for the former than for the latter circumstance.The resolution of the electronic position determining system can bevaried according to the algorithm used to interpret the electric fieldmap. In addition to using software to vary the spatial resolution frompage to page, the software can interpret the electric field strength mapto create a gradient in resolution from one part of a page to another.The top of the page, where perhaps only a few widely spaced selectablepositions are located may have low resolution, so the print media may beonly approximately positioned relative to the detector. In contrast, thelower portion of the surface may require high resolution in order toselect icons positioned directly on (and thus not movable with respectto) the print media receiving unit. This is illustrated in FIG. 8. Inyet other embodiments, software can modify the operationalcharacteristics of the hardware in the graphical location and positiondetermining system so that this gradient can be achieved. Furtherdetails of preferred graphical location and position determining systemsare described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,705, U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/200,960 filed May 1, 2000 and U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/574,499 filed May 19, 2000, all of which are herein incorporated byreference in their entirety for all purposes, and are assigned to thesame assignee as the present application. In another example, thetechnology suitable for some components of a basic print media receivingunit can be found in a product called “LeapPad™” commercially availablefrom LeapFrog, Inc. of Emeryville, Calif.

Other types of electronic detection systems can be used. For example,print media receiving unit may have a digital graphics tablet or apressure sensitive surface upon which a print medium is disposed. Uponpressing the print medium and the underlying pressure sensitive surface,the position of the selected portion of the print medium can bedetermined. In yet another embodiment, a system using surface acousticwaves are measured at the edges of a glass plate and are used tocalculate the position on the place that was selected by a finger or astylus. In yet another embodiment, an optical detector can be used. Theprint media receiving unit may include a frame around a flat surface.The print medium can be disposed under the frame and on the flatsurface. An array of light emitters and detectors can be around theinner edges of the frame. When a finger or a stylus is near the printmedium and interrupts light coming from the light emitters, the positionof the selection can be determined.

The print media receiving unit may also include a writeable memorydevice. In some embodiments, it contains a programmable (“flash”) memoryor other volatile memory device. The writeable memory device can storeany suitable information. For example, electronic maps of print media,as well as auxiliary information for selected print elements in theprint media can be stored in the writeable memory device. The writeablememory device may be embedded within the print media receiving unit, maybe external to the print media receiving unit, and/or may be temporarilyinsertable within the print media receiving device. If it is temporarilyinsertable within the print media receiving device, it may be in theform of a cartridge, disk, memory stick, etc. Preferably, suchinsertable writeable memory devices may also be insertable within aclient computer.

Any of the components in the systems, assemblies and print mediareceiving units according to embodiments of the invention may includewireless communication links. The links may be provided by, for example,radio frequency or infrared frequency links. In one example, the printmedia receiving unit may associated with (e.g., contain or be coupledto) a transceiver and a local computer such as a client computer mayalso have a transceiver. Communication can occur between thesecomponents via a wireless link between the transceivers.

The print media receiving unit may include any suitable software. Theprint media receiving unit assembly may contain word processingsoftware, voice recognition software, position determining software,etc.

Any suitable input devices may be associated with the print mediareceiving unit. Examples of input devices include a stylus, keyboard,mouse, laser pointer, trackball, touchpads, etc. Preferably, an inputdevice such as a stylus is electrically coupled to the print mediareceiving unit. The stylus may be tethered and electrically coupled tothe print media receiving unit, e.g., through a cable or through awireless link to form a print media receiving unit assembly.

Other data input devices may be buttons or selectable symbols (e.g.,icons, abbreviations) on the print media receiving unit, which may beselected by the user to obtain auxiliary information. For instance, theselection of certain symbols may cause certain types or modes ofauxiliary information to be delivered to the user. The symbols may be ina legend on the print media receiving unit so that the user can easilyreference selectable items. As the user browses a print medium such as anewsmagazine disposed on a print media receiving unit, the user maytouch a stylus to various items of interest on the page. For example, ifa news story is accompanied by a picture of a newsmaker and the readertouches the stylus to a displayed icon (e.g., a speaker icon) on theprint medium receiving unit, auxiliary audio information about thenewsmaker may be provided to the user.

Any suitable audio or visual output devices may be associated with theprint media receiving unit. Examples of visual output devices include adisplay devices such as video screens, monitors, televisions, or LCDs.The audio output devices may produce primarily audio output. Examples ofaudio devices include speakers, earphones, headphones, voicesynthesizers, etc. Audio output devices such as earphones and headphonescan be connected to the print media receiving unit through an audiojack. The print media receiving unit preferably contains voicegenerating technology (e.g., a synthesized voice), in addition to voicestreaming or voice pass-through capability. When the stylus toucheswords or other printed matter on the print medium, an audio device in orcoupled to the print media receiving unit can provide a high qualityhuman voice, music, and/or sound effects.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of a print media informationsystem embodiment including a more detailed schematic representation ofsome print media receiving unit components. The system comprises a printmedia receiving unit assembly at a first user location 1(a) and aninformation server computer 1(b) at a second location 1(b). The secondlocation 1(b) may be remote from the first user location 1(a).

The print media receiving unit assembly may include any suitable numberof components. As shown, the print media receiving unit assembly mayinclude a platform-shaped print media receiving unit 2, a stylus 4, aprocessor 6, and a writeable memory storage device 8. The stylus 4 maybe operatively coupled to, and in operative association with, the printmedia receiving unit 2, which is preferably portable. A wired orwireless link may be present between the stylus 4 and the print mediareceiving unit 2.

The processor 6 may be a microprocessor and is preferably disposedwithin the print media receiving unit 2, but may also be external to theprint media receiving unit 2. A number of operations may be performed bythe processor 6. For example, the processor 6 may be a component in anelectronic position determining system (not shown) which can be used todetermine the location of a selected portion of a print medium disposedon the print media receiving unit 2. The processor 6 may storeinstructions for calculating the position of the stylus 4 over the printmedia receiving unit 2. Alternatively or additionally, the processor 6may serve as a client computer which can receive or transmit data to andfrom the information server computer 10. Although processor 6 is shownas being external to the print media receiving unit 2, the processor 6may be contained within, and/or form part of, the print media receivingunit 2.

A writeable memory storage device 8 is operatively coupled to theprocessor 6 and an information server computer 10. The writeable memorystorage device 8 may be external to, or disposed within the print mediareceiving device 2. If the writeable memory storage device 8 is disposedwithin the print media receiving device 2, it may be removable ornon-removable from it. If it is removable, it may be in the form of adisk, cartridge, or memory stick. A removable memory storage device 8can be insertable and/or receivable by the print media receiving device2 and also by an external computer (not shown) which may serve as aclient computer communicating with the information server computer 10.The writeable memory storage device 8 may also be in the form of diskdrive, flash memory or other information storage device. Any of theseforms may be internal to, or external to, the print media receiving unit2.

A stylus 4 may be tethered to a print media receiving unit 2 to form aprint media receiving unit assembly. While the stylus 4 is illustratedas being mechanically coupled to the print media receiving unit 2, itcan also be coupled through a wireless link. The stylus 4 may containelectronics that are operatively coupled to the client computer 6 andthe electronics in the print media receiving unit 2. In otherembodiments, the stylus 4 may be free of electronics and may simplyserve as a mechanical selecting device.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of the print media receiving unit 2.The print media receiving unit 2 shown has a hinge 12 in the center thatseparates two panels and allows the print media receiving unit 2 to foldinto a closed position when it is not in use. Electronic elements 14forming part of the electronic position locating system are embeddedunder the print media receiving unit on each side of the hinge 12, andare shown by dashes on the left hand side of the print media receivingunit 2. An optional sliding positioning piece 16 may be used tostabilize and restrain the print media. Any suitable positioningstructures can be used. For instance, it is also useful to use notchesalong the border of the print media receiving unit 2 to position a printmedium on the print media receiving unit 2 in a fixed position. Analpha-numeric input region 15 can be provided on the print mediareceiving unit 2 to permit a user to enter data into the receiving unit.

On the left hand panel of the print media receiving unit 2, threeexamples of icons 18 are illustrated. These icons might be used by theuser to make special requests. For example, if the user desiresadditional information about a topic be sent to his or her e-mailaddress, the user may select a topic in a magazine on the print mediareceiving unit and may later select an e-mail icon. After selecting thee-mail icon, the auxiliary information retrieved by the informationserver computer can be sent to the user's e-mail account. Alternatively,the user might touch the icon 18 to receive an audio prompt regardinge-mail. Any number of icons could be used for additional options, andthe icons may be printed on a surface of the print media receiving unit2.

The right side of the print media receiving unit 2 includes an optionalspeaker 20 which is physically integrated into the print media receivingunit 2. There is also a earphone jack 22, for use if quieter operationif desired. In use, the user may place the tip of stylus 4 on a portionof the print medium and auxiliary information relating to the selectedportion can be sent to the print media receiving unit 2 and may beaudibly recited to the user. A wireless transceiver such as an RFtransceiver 28 can be coupled to or embedded in the print mediareceiving unit 2. The RF transceiver 28 may be used to couple the printmedia receiving unit 2 to an information server computer or to a clientcomputer which contacts the information server computer.

Auxiliary information can be loaded to or from the print media receivingunit 2 using a writeable memory such as a flash memory cartridge (notshown) or other transferable information storage media. A flash memorycartridge, for example, fits in a slot 24 at the side of the print mediareceiving unit 2. The cartridge may contain auxiliary information.

As noted above, a gradient of selectability may be provided so thatresolution of the selectability of the selectable elements may begreater at one region of the print element receiving unit than another.For example, with reference to FIG. 7, the icons 18 are larger than, andhave more distance between adjacent icons than the alpha-numericelements 15 on the print media receiving unit. Both the alpha-numericelements 15 and the icons 18 may be printed on the surface of the printmedia receiving unit 2. The number of selectable positions at the regionwhere the alpha-numeric elements 15 lie is greater than the number ofselectable elements where the icons 18 lie. Accordingly, in embodimentsof the invention, a gradient of selectability may be provided to theprint media receiving unit 2. Preferably, the gradient of selectabilitycan be changed by modifying the location detection software used in thereceiving unit 2 without any hardware modifications.

Another embodiment view of another print media receiving unit embodimentis shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, a print media receiving unit 2 has aprint medium 101 disposed on it. The print media receiving unit 2 mayhave a menu bar 105. The menu bar may have the following icons: an iconto purchase a product 105(a), an icon to send an e-mail to the user'saccount 105(b), an icon to send an e-mail to another person 105(c), anicon to obtain more information 105(d), an icon to play a game 105(e),an icon to take a poll 105(f), an icon for help 105(g), an icon to sendinformation through regular mail 105(h), icons 105(i-j) for answeringyes or no in response to questions, and icons corresponding to potentialanswers provided by a user 105(k-n). A data entry bar 150 may be presentand may include: elements which can be selected to increase or decreasethe volume 150(a), elements by which the user can inform the unit 2 thathe is viewing the front cover (FC) or back cover (BC) 150(b), andnumerical elements 150(c) for the user to enter in the page number(s)being viewed. As shown, the menu bar 105 and the data entry bar 150 aredisplayed to the user while the print on the print medium 101 isdisplayed to the user.

A number of functions can be performed with the menu bar 105 and thedata entry bar 150. For example, in some embodiments, a portion of text107 can be selected can “cut” by passing a stylus (not shown) over theportion of text 102. This cut text 107 can then be sent to the user'se-mail account by selecting the e-mail icon 105(b) on the print mediareceiving unit 2. A selectable symbol 110 may be present on the printmedium 101 to indicate to the reader that the symbol is selectable.Unlike a machine readable symbol such as a bar code, the symbol 110 maybe aesthetically pleasing since its selectability does not depend on theparticular geometry of the symbol 110 itself. In this instance, theselectable symbol may be associated with a URL (uniform resourcelocator) 108. The user may select the symbol 110 and then select thee-mail icon 105(b) to send an e-mail to the user with a hyperlink to theURL.

Although the menu bar 105 and the data entry bar 150 are shown as beingon the print media receiving unit 2, they could also be on the printmedium 101. It is preferable, however, to have one or both of the menubar 105 and the data entry bar 150 on the print media receiving unit 2.For example, by providing these bars on the print media receiving unit2, the bars need not be printed on the print medium and need not clutterthe appearance of the print medium. Moreover, by providing these bars onthe print media receiving unit 2, fewer selectable print elements perpage can be provided. As noted above, when fewer selectable printelements per page are provided, the registration accuracy needed whenplacing a print medium 101 on the receiving unit 2 is decreased.

EXAMPLES Example 1

In one example, with reference to FIG. 8, the print media receiving unit2 is designed to accommodate a magazine 101 such as Time™ magazine. Themagazine has been prepared by a publisher, and data of the preparedpublication is entered into the information server computer 10. Theinformation server computer 10 is preferably capable of obtainingauxiliary information which may relate to the print elements in themagazine being viewed by the user. The magazine may have been preparedfor the system in advance of the user's receipt of the magazine or maybe prepared after the receipt of the magazine. When the magazine isprepared, the magazine has an identifier such as a code and/or apublication name and date, as well as auxiliary information such asaudio files associated with print elements in the magazine.

To use the prepared magazine, the user locates the identification codeprinted on the magazine and enters it into the print media receivingunit using the alpha-numeric pad on the print media receiving unit. Theprint media receiving unit communicates with an information servercomputer via a Web site on the information server computer. This may bedone using an intermediate client computer, or may be done using aprocessor in the print media receiving unit which can serve as a clientcomputer. Data for the specific user, the print media receiving unit,and the specific magazine is uploaded into an information mediumaccessible to the information server computer. The print media receivingunit is registered at the information server computer using theidentifiers and is associated with a user profile. In the personalprofile, the user may have previously provided personalized informationto the information server computer expressing an interest in wines.

Data is sent from the information server computer 10 to the print mediareceiving unit 2. A speaker in the print media receiving unit or soundscoming from an earphone coupled to the print media receiving unit greetsthe user by name and recites the name of the magazine being viewed.Having previously expressed an interest in wines, the sound of a voicecoming from the print medium receiving unit brings the user's attentionto an article on wines in the magazine. The user turns to the winearticle and sees a boxed inset on pinots, describing several differentprocessing methods for pressing the grapes. A stylus 4 is used to selecta symbol 102 in the insert box to and hear information on details of thedifferent pressing methods described by a wine maker. The selectioninformation may be sent to the information server computer 10 and theinformation server computer 10 may retrieve auxiliary informationregarding wine making. For example, sound files can be downloaded intothe print media receiving unit 2. The user can be asked by the system ifhe would like to order sample bottles made by each of the processingmethods shown in the magazine. Using the stylus 4, the user respondsaffirmatively and selects a number of bottles displayed in the magazine101 for purchase. The print media receiving unit 2 may respond bydisplaying or reciting the price to the user. Using the print mediareceiving unit 2, the user may inform the information server computer 10to have the shipment sent to a work address to avoid having the shippedbottles sit in the afternoon sun until the end of the day.

In some embodiments, the user may be tested on the subject matterprovided by the article in the print medium. The user may be given a popquiz such as a multiple choice test to test the user on his retention ofthe subject matter of the article in the print medium. For instance, inthis particular example, the user can be tested with multiple choicequestions on the subject matter of the wine article recently read.Consequently, embodiments of the invention can assist a user inretaining information that he has read.

In some embodiments, the user may also select a symbol to have the printmedia receiving unit recite the main points of the article before theuser reads the article. In this way, the user can listen to the keypoints of the article before deciding to spend the time to read thearticle. For instance, in this particular example, the user can select asymbol which lets the user listen to a summary of the article on wines.After listening to the summary, the user can determine if he wants toread the article.

Example 2

The printed media used may comprise strong, long-lasting plastic sheetscontaining game board designs along with printed codes specifying thegame and level of interaction. For example, the printed medium mayresemble a chess board and printed icons indicating different difficultylevels (e.g., levels 1 through 5) may be listed in the margin of theprinted medium. A level of skill can be selected by the user. Theprinted medium may be placed on a print media receiving unit and chesspieces can be placed on the printed medium. Position sensors in theprint media receiving unit can sense the position of particular chesspieces. This location information can be transmitted to the informationserver computer. When the user moves a chess piece, the print mediareceiving unit can determine the new location of the chess piece and thenew location information can be sent to the information server computer.Consequently, in these game embodiments, the user may play a game withanother player or may play a game with the information server computer.The user has a choice of playing in real time or playing by logging gamemoves and sending the move to another player who will pick up the gameat a convenient time to check an opponent's last move, and subsequentlyto enter a move.

Example 3

A person may electronically prepare a personalized birthday card to makecertain items on the birthday card selectable when the birthday card isplaced on the print media receiving unit. For example, the birthday cardwhen placed on a print media receiving unit, the user may select itemson the birthday card and the print media receiving unit may respond bygenerating a special song or reciting a personal spoken message from thesender. The card may offer different gift certificates to the user andmay choose a gift certificate from the gift certificates printed on thecard. Upon selection of a gift certificate, the gift certificate can beautomatically sent to the user.

Example 4

A family in which members live some distance from one another couldshare a photo album, with associated spoken annotations. Family memberscan obtain a user-oriented toolkit to electronically process the photoalbum to make certain elements of the photo album selectable when it ison a print media receiving unit. Upon selection of certain elements inthe photo album, new photos and comments may be presented to the user.Each time a family member places his album in the print media receivingunit, it would download the latest photos and comments entered by anyother family member.

Example 5

Information can be requested real time using embodiments of theinvention. For example, the user can touch a map on the print mediareceiving unit to hear weather conditions or may place a TV guide on theprint media receiving unit to hear reviews or viewing times for a listedprogram. The user may also select portions of a printed medium on aprint media receiving unit to listen to excerpts of recorded music froma play, movie, or compact disc.

Example 6

A print medium can be placed on a print media receiving unit. The printmedium may display ads for service businesses such as a realtor or anauto-dealer. By touching portions of the ads, the user can request thatthe realtor or auto dealer send information to the user by e-mail,conventional mail, or phone. Information on a single topic, like cars,catalogs, or magazines could be saved for later comparison. Contests orsweepstakes could be carried out with a real time response usingembodiments of the invention.

Example 7

Users could register for events by filling in processed forms that werereceived by conventional mail. They can be placed on a print mediareceiving unit and the elements of the forms can be selected to provideregistration information to the information server computer.

Example 8

A user places a magazine on the print media receiving unit, and touchesthe stylus to, e.g., an advertisement for a theater show in themagazine, electronics in the print media receiving unit will identifythe print item selected by the user. The selected information can besent to an information server computer which retrieves information froman information source such as an information database and sends it tothe user. The information sent to the user may be ticket information(e.g., prices) and show schedules. The sent information may be digitaland may be in the form of a sound file or text file. After the printmedia receiving unit receives the data transmitted from the informationserver computer, a speaker in the print media receiving unit audiblyrecites the days certain tickets are available and their price to theuser. The user may also purchase the tickets by contacting theinformation server computer using the print media receiving unit.

The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used asterms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention inthe use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of thefeatures shown and described, or portions thereof, it being recognizedthat various modifications are possible within the scope of theinvention claimed. Moreover, any one or more features of any embodimentof the invention may be combined with any one or more other features ofany other embodiment of the invention, without departing from the scopeof the invention

1. A method comprising: (a) obtaining an assembly comprising: (i) aprocessor; (ii) a position determining system capable of determining aposition of a selected portion of a print medium using an electronic mapthat correlates print elements in the print medium with their locationsin the print medium; (iii) a stylus wherein the processor is programmedto identify an area in the print medium where the stylus is positioned;(iv) an audio output device coupled to the processor; (v) a writeablememory device being coupled to the processor; and (vi) an opticaldetector coupled to the processor; (b) receiving, from a server computerand through the Internet, information relating to the print elements inthe print medium; (c) loading the information relating to the portionsof the print medium in the assembly; and (d) utilizing the assembly withthe loaded information relating to the print elements of the printmedium, whereby utilizing comprises: selecting a print element bypositioning the stylus over the print element in the print medium; andreceiving an audio output from the audio output device after positioningthe stylus over the print element in the print medium, wherein the audiooutput is selected by the processor using the position of the stylusover the print medium.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the informationrelating to the print elements of the print medium is transmitted to aclient computer operated by a user, which is operably coupled to theassembly.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the user operates theassembly without the assembly being in direct communication with theserver computer.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the print medium is achildren's book.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the print medium is amagazine.
 6. The method of claim 2, the method further comprisingsending to the server computer information relating to the selectedprint element.